4 Scary Things That Happen to Your Brain When You’re Stressed

Your brain takes a beating when anxiety gets out of hand. Here’s how stress impacts your noggin—and how to calm back down again.

Effects of stress: Your brain doesn’t learn as well

Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, Valero Doval (illustration)

Neural stem cells in the hippocampus—a structure important for learning and memory—typically develop into neurons. But under chronic stress, these stem cells instead become oligodendrocytes, which coat neurons with an insulating material called myelin. The resulting excess of myelin perturbs the balance of communication and timing within the brain’s circuitry, altering how neurons connect with each other, according to research in rats and cellular models conducted by University of California at Berkeley scientists. “Ultimately, these changes can affect cognitive function, including changes in learning, memory, and emotional well-being,” says Sundari Chetty, PhD, now a faculty member in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine and co-author of the 2014 paper presenting these findings in Molecular Psychiatry. “Substantial alterations in myelination have been noted in a number of neurological conditions and could potentially contribute to mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.” Here are more weird symptoms you didn’t know were caused by stress.

Effects of stress: You have a greater stroke risk

Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, Valero Doval (illustration)

Significant levels of stress could increase risk of stroke, according to a growing body of research. In one study published in Stroke, more than 6,700 adults aged 45 to 84 filled out questionnaires about psychological factors, including stress and depression. At follow-up 8 ½ to 11 years later, those who scored highest were 59 percent more likely to have suffered a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) if they had reported experiencing chronic stress caused by problems such as health, money, and relationships. “There’s such a focus on traditional risk factors—cholesterol levels, blood pressure, smoking, and so forth—and those are all very important, but studies like this one show that psychological characteristics are equally important,” study author Susan Everson-Rose, PhD, MPH, said in the statement. Learn the other silent signs stress is making you sick.